Automatic chamfering machine and chamfering method

ABSTRACT

Provided is an automatic chamfering machine for chamfering workpieces, comprising: a feed inlet, a linear guide, a positioning mechanism, a working platform, an automatic grasping mechanism, a grinding stick and an outlet. One end of the linear guide is connected to the feed inlet and the other end of the linear guide is connected to the outlet; the positioning mechanism and the working platform are arranged on the linear guide. The workpieces enter the linear guide from the feed inlet and pass through the positioning mechanism, the positioning mechanism performs a position alignment calibration to the workpieces. The automatic grasping mechanism grasps the workpieces after the position alignment calibration to the working platform. The grinding stick chamfers the workpieces on the working platform. The workpieces after chamfering are discharged through the outlet along with the linear guide. A chamfering method using the automatic chamfering machine is further provided.

CROSS REFERENCE

This application is a continuation application of PCT Patent Application No. PCT/CN2017/118916 filed on Dec. 27, 2017, which claims the priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 2017109320507, entitled “Automatic chamfering machine and chamfering method”, filed on Sep. 29, 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present application relates to an automatic chamfering machine and a chamfering method using the automatic chamfering machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the processing of the workpiece, it is often necessary to chamfer the edges of the workpiece to remove sharp edges or burrs. At present, a commonly used method is to use a manual type chamfering machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above problems, the present application provides an automatic chamfering machine capable of saving manpower and improving processing efficiency and productivity. Meanwhile, a chamfering method using the aforesaid automatic chamfering machine is provided.

Provided is an automatic chamfering machine for chamfering workpieces, comprising: a feed inlet, a linear guide, a positioning mechanism, a working platform, an automatic grasping mechanism, a grinding stick and an outlet. One end of the linear guide is connected to the feed inlet and the other end of the linear guide is connected to the outlet. The positioning mechanism and the working platform are arranged on the linear guide. The workpieces enter the linear guide from the feed inlet and pass through the positioning mechanism, the positioning mechanism performs a position alignment calibration to the workpieces. The automatic grasping mechanism grasps the workpieces after the position alignment calibration to the working platform. The grinding stick chamfers the workpieces on the working platform. The workpieces after chamfering are discharged through the outlet along with the linear guide.

Preferably, at least one positioning plate is arranged on the working platform, the automatic grasping mechanism grasps the workpieces to the at least positioning plate, one of the positioning plates correspondingly accommodates one of the workpieces to be entered into a chamfering process.

Preferably, the working platform is a rotary working platform and two rows of positioning plates are arranged on the rotary working platform.

Preferably, the positioning mechanism comprises a plurality of positioning pins disposed at intervals and the plurality of positioning pins can align at least one side of each of the workpieces.

Preferably, a positioning mark is arranged on the positioning plate, a positioning correcting mechanism is arranged on the automatic grasping mechanism, and the positioning mark cooperates with the positioning correcting mechanism to further perform position alignment calibration to the workpieces.

Preferably, the automatic grasping mechanism and the grinding stick are controlled by a same operating mechanism, and the operating mechanism controls the automatic grasping mechanism to perform a grasping operation and controls the grinding stick to perform a grinding operation.

Preferably, the grinding stick is a grinding stick with an 800 mesh roughness.

Preferably, the automatic chamfering machine further comprises a checking mechanism, wherein the checking mechanism is arranged on the linear guide and close to the outlet, and the workpieces after chamfering are discharged through the outlet after a chamfering accuracy is detected by the checking mechanism.

Provided is a chamfering method using the aforesaid automatic chamfering machine, wherein the chamfering method comprises steps of:

providing the workpieces to enter the linear guide from the feed inlet of the automatic chamfering machine and performing a position alignment calibration to the workpieces by the positioning mechanism; grasping the workpieces after the position alignment calibration on the positioning plate of the working platform by the automatic grasping mechanism; chamfering the workpieces on the positioning plate by the grinding stick; conveying the workpieces after chamfering to the outlet to accomplish a chamfering process to the workpieces.

Preferably, a step of chamfering the workpieces on the positioning plate by the grinding stick further comprises a step of rotating the working platform to chamfer the workpiece on other parts of the working platform.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or prior art, the following figures will be described in the embodiments are briefly introduced. It is obvious that the drawings are merely some embodiments of the present application, those of ordinary skill in this field can obtain other figures according to these figures without paying the premise.

FIG. 1 is a structure diagram of an automatic chamfering machine provided by one preferred embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a chamfering method performed by the automatic chamfering machine shown in FIG. 1.

MAJOR COMPONENTS SYMBOL DESCRIPTION

automatic chamfering machine 100 feed inlet 110 linear guide 120 positioning mechanism 130 positioning pin 131 working platform 140 positioning plate 141 automatic grasping mechanism 150 grinding stick 160 operating mechanism 170 checking mechanism 180 outlet 190 workpiece 200

The implementation, functions and advantages of the objective of the present application will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings in conjunction with the embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present application are described in detail with the technical matters, structural features, achieved objects, and effects with reference to the accompanying drawings as follows. It is clear that the described embodiments are part of embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments. In the case of no conflict, the features in the following embodiments and examples can be combined with each other. Based on the embodiments of the present application, all other embodiments to those of ordinary skill in the premise of no creative efforts obtained, should all be considered within the scope of protection of the present application.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. The term “connected” in this application may refer to a contact connection or a non-contact connection, including but not limited to a procedural connection. The terminology used in the description herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the application.

Please refer to FIG. 1. Specifically, FIG. 1 is a structure diagram of an automatic chamfering machine 100 according to one embodiment provided for ease of understanding only. The actual structure of the automatic chamfering machine 100 is much more complicated. The automatic chamfering machine 100 comprises a feed inlet 110, a linear guide 120, a positioning mechanism 130, a working platform 140, an automatic grasping mechanism 150, a grinding stick 160, a checking mechanism 180 and an outlet 190.

One end of the feed inlet 110 can be connected with an upstream processing device so that the workpieces 200 completed by the upstream processing device can be received. The other end of the feed inlet 110 is connected with the linear guide 120. The linear guide 120 is provided with the positioning mechanism 130 and the checking mechanism 180. The positioning mechanism 130 performs a position alignment calibration to the workpieces 200 passing through. The positioning mechanism 130 comprises a plurality of positioning pins 131 disposed at intervals. The plurality of positioning pins 131 can align at least one side of each of the workpieces 200. The number and position of the plurality of positioning pins 131 can be set according to actual needs. In this embodiment, the plurality of positioning pins 131 can align three sides of each of the workpieces 200. The working platform 140 is arranged on the linear guide 120 between the positioning mechanism 130 and the checking mechanism 180. The other end of the linear guide 120 is connected with the outlet 190.

The workpieces 200 enter the linear guide 120 from the feed inlet 110. The linear guide 120 moves under the control of a stepping motor. The workpieces 200 move as the linear guide 120 moves. As the workpieces 200 moves to the positioning mechanism 130 as the linear guide 120 moves, the positioning mechanism 130 performs the accurate position alignment calibration to the workpieces 200. The workpieces 200 after being aligned are fixed so as to wait for the next operations.

The automatic grasping mechanism 150 grasps the workpieces 200 after the position alignment calibration on the positioning plate 141 of the working platform 140. The position and size of the positioning plate 141 can be set in advance. In this embodiment, the size of the positioning plate 141 is consistent with the size of the workpiece 200. One positioning plate 141 just accommodates one workpiece 200. Thus, the workpiece 200 can be placed on the positioning plate 141 for the next operation without the position alignment calibration, again.

In the alternative embodiment, a positioning mark (not shown) is arranged on each of the positioning plates 141. A positioning correcting mechanism (not shown) is arranged on the automatic grasping mechanism 150. The positioning correcting mechanism comprises a positioning detection module and an automatic correction module. The positioning mark cooperates with the positioning correcting mechanism to further perform position alignment calibration to the workpieces 200. When the automatic grasping mechanism 150 places the workpieces 200 on the positioning plates 141, the positioning detection module simultaneously detects whether the workpiece 200 is aligned with the positioning mark on the positioning plates 141. If the alignment is detected, the automatic grasping mechanism 150 is removed and the workpiece 200 can be ready for the next operation. If the misalignment is detected, the automatic correction module drives the automatic grasping mechanism 150 not to grasp the workpiece 200 until the alignment is accomplished.

A plurality of positioning plates 141 can be set on the working platform 140. The number of the positioning plates 141 can be set according to actual requirements to improve the work efficiency. The number of the positioning plates 141 may be one or two and more. When the number of the positioning plates 141 is set to be plural, the plurality of positioning plates 141 can be arranged on the working platform 140 in tow rows. Then, the working platform 140 adopts a rotary working platform 140. In this embodiment, two rows of eight positioning plates 141 are arranged on the rotary working platform 140. Each row includes four positioning plates 141. The specific operation of the rotary working platform 140 will be described in detail below.

The grinding stick 160 chamfers the workpiece 200 which is positioned on the positioning plate 141. The grinding stick 160 can be controlled by an operating mechanism 170 to chamfer the workpiece 200 according to the preset angle parameter. The operating mechanism 170 also controls the grinding stick 160 to move in the directions of X axis and Y axis so that the grinding stick 160 can grind the four corners of the workpiece 200. The operating mechanism 170 can be set to control the grinding stick 160 to have different chamfering parameters for the respective corners of the workpiece 200. Or, one chamfering parameter of one corner can be inconsistent with the chamfering parameter of the other corners. Thus, the chamfered workpiece 200 presents a personalized appearance according to the user's needs. In this embodiment, the grinding stick 160 is a grinding stick 160 with an 800 mesh roughness to better meet the requirements of the accuracy and the process specification. The control of the operating mechanism 170 can be a hydraulic, pneumatic, electric or mechanical manipulator.

In this embodiment, the automatic grasping mechanism 150 and the grinding stick 160 are controlled by the same operating mechanism 170. The automatic grasping mechanism 150 is retractable so that the grasping stroke can be set, flexibly. When the grinding stick 160 works, the automatic grasping mechanism 150 can also be retracted to avoid the influence to the work of the grinding stick 160. In the alternative embodiment, the two can also be controlled by different operating mechanisms 170.

In this embodiment, the grinding stick 160 is moved in the directions of X axis and Y axis to chamfer one row of the workpieces 200 on the rotary working platform 140. Then, the rotary working platform 140 is rotated for 180 degrees to rotate the other row of the workpieces 200 into the working zone of the grinding stick 160. Then, the grinding stick 160 chamfers the other row of the workpieces 200. The rotary working platform 140 can be rotated by a direct drive motor.

The number of the grinding sticks 160 can also be set one or two and more according to actual needs. For instance, the number of the grinding sticks 160 can be set according to the number of the positioning plates 141 in one row. When a plurality of grinding sticks 160 is arranged, the plurality of grinding sticks 160 can work simultaneously to improve the work efficiency. In this embodiment, only one grinding stick 160 is arranged. The grinding stick 160 sequentially chamfers the respective workpieces 200 on the respective positioning plates 141 in the working zone.

The workpieces 200 after chamfering are conveyed to the outlet 190 through the linear guide 120. The automatic grasping mechanism 150 can be used to grasp the workpieces 200 after chamfering back on the linear guide 120. Or, the working platform 140 descends so that the workpieces 200 can return back on the linear guide 120.

The outlet 190 may include a good product outlet and a defective product outlet (both not shown). When the workpiece 200 is conveyed to the outlet 190, it will pass through the checking mechanism 180 first. The checking mechanism 180 will perform the automatic detection of the abnormality and chamfering accuracy for the workpiece 200. When the abnormality is detected, the checking mechanism 180 will trigger an alarm system to remind the staff. When it is detected that the chamfering accuracy of the workpiece 200 does not meet the standard, the workpiece 200 is discharged through the defective product outlet. When it is detected that the chamfering accuracy of the workpiece 200 meets the standard, the workpiece 200 is discharged through the good product outlet to the downstream process, thereby accomplishing the chamfering process of the workpiece 200. Certainly, in the alternative embodiment, the workpieces 200 after chamfering can also be directly discharged through the outlet 190. After the manual inspection, the qualified workpieces 200 are transferred to the downstream process.

In this embodiment, the automatic chamfering machine 100 adopts a dual runner operation. Specifically, the automatic chamfering machine 100 includes two operating runners that work synchronously. Each runner comprises one feed inlet 110, one linear guide 120, one positioning mechanism 130, one working platform 140, one automatic grasping mechanism 150, one grinding stick 160, one checking mechanism 180 and one outlet 190. Thus, the automatic chamfering machine 100 can effectively improve work efficiency and productivity. In the alternative embodiment, the number of the operating runners for the automatic chamfering can be set according to the actual conditions, and may be a single operating runner or multiple operating runners.

The automatic chamfering machine 100 can be applied to the chamfering for the electronic equipment, the mold manufacturing, the hardware machinery, the machine tool manufacturing, the hydraulic parts, the valve manufacturing and the textile machinery. When the automatic chamfering machine 100 is applied to an electronic device, such as a display field, the workpiece 200 may be any of a display panel, a touch panel, a display panel with a touch function and a glass cover.

Please refer to FIG. 2. The chamfering method using the automatic chamfering machine 100 of the present application will be described in detail below. For ease of description, the same component symbols are used hereinafter as the same reference numerals. The chamfering method using the automatic chamfering machine 100 comprises steps of:

Step S1, providing the workpieces 200 to enter the linear guide 120 from the feed inlet 110 of the automatic chamfering machine 100 and performing a position alignment calibration to the workpieces 200 by the positioning mechanism 130.

Step S2, grasping the workpieces 200 after the position alignment calibration on the positioning plate 141 of the working platform 140 by the automatic grasping mechanism 150.

After Step S2 and before Step S3, the method may comprise a step of performing the position alignment calibration to the workpiece 200 again to ensure the chamfering accuracy. Specifically, a positioning mark is arranged on the positioning plate 141. A positioning detection module and an automatic correction module (a positioning correcting mechanism) are arranged on the automatic grasping mechanism 150. The positioning mark cooperates with the positioning detection module and the automatic correction module to further perform position alignment calibration to the workpieces 200. The positioning detection module detects whether the workpiece 200 is aligned with the positioning mark on the positioning plate 141. If it is aligned, then Step S3 is proceeded. If it is not aligned, then the automatic correction module drives the automatic grasping mechanism 150 to grasp the workpiece 200 to move until it is aligned. Thus, the position alignment calibration is performed to the workpiece 200, again.

Step S3, chamfering the workpieces 200 on the positioning plate 141 by the grinding stick 160.

Step S3 further comprises a step of rotating the working platform 140 to chamfer the other workpieces on the rotary working platform 400. Specifically, the working platform 140 is a rotary working platform 400 and two rows of positioning plates 141 are arranged on the rotary working platform 140. The grinding stick 160 first chamfers one row of the workpieces 200 on the rotary working platform 140. Then, the rotary working platform 140 is rotated for 180 degrees to rotate the other row of the workpieces 200 into the working zone of the grinding stick 160. Then, the grinding stick 160 chamfers the other row of the workpieces 200.

Step S4, grasping the workpieces 200 after chamfering back on the linear guide 120 by the automatic grasping mechanism 150, and conveying the workpieces 200 to the outlet 190 by the linear guide 120 to accomplish a chamfering process to the workpieces 200.

Step S4 can further comprises a step of detecting a chamfering accuracy to the workpiece 200 after chamfering. Specifically, a checking mechanism 180 is further arranged on the linear guide 120 and close to the outlet 190 to detect the chamfering accuracy of the workpiece 200 after chamfering.

The foregoing embodiments are merely used to describe the technical solutions of the present application rather than limiting the same. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the technical solutions of the present application may be modified or equivalently replaced should deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the present application. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An automatic chamfering machine for chamfering workpieces, comprising: a feed inlet, a linear guide, a positioning mechanism, a working platform, an automatic grasping mechanism, a grinding stick and an outlet; wherein one end of the linear guide is connected to the feed inlet and the other end of the linear guide is connected to the outlet; the positioning mechanism and the working platform are arranged on the linear guide; the workpieces enter the linear guide from the feed inlet and pass through the positioning mechanism, the positioning mechanism performs a position alignment calibration to the workpieces; the automatic grasping mechanism grasps the workpieces after the position alignment calibration to the working platform; the grinding stick chamfers the workpieces on the working platform; the workpieces after chamfering are discharged through the outlet along with the linear guide.
 2. The automatic chamfering machine according to claim 1, wherein at least one positioning plate is arranged on the working platform, the automatic grasping mechanism grasps the workpieces to the at least positioning plate, each of the positioning plates correspondingly accommodates one of the workpieces to be entered into a chamfering process.
 3. The automatic chamfering machine according to claim 2, wherein the working platform is a rotary working platform and two rows of positioning plates are arranged on the rotary working platform.
 4. The automatic chamfering machine according to claim 1, wherein the positioning mechanism comprises a plurality of positioning pins disposed at intervals and the plurality of positioning pins can align at least one side of each of the workpieces.
 5. The automatic chamfering machine according to claim 2, wherein a positioning mark is arranged on the positioning plate, a positioning correcting mechanism is arranged on the automatic grasping mechanism, and the positioning mark cooperates with the positioning correcting mechanism to further perform position alignment calibration to the workpieces.
 6. The automatic chamfering machine according to claim 1, wherein the automatic grasping mechanism and the grinding stick are controlled by a same operating mechanism, and the operating mechanism controls the automatic grasping mechanism to perform a grasping operation and controls the grinding stick to perform a grinding operation.
 7. The automatic chamfering machine according to claim 1, wherein the grinding stick is a grinding stick with an 800 mesh roughness.
 8. The automatic chamfering machine according to claim 1, further comprising a checking mechanism, wherein the checking mechanism is arranged on the linear guide and close to the outlet, and the workpieces after chamfering are discharged through the outlet after a chamfering accuracy is detected by the checking mechanism.
 9. A chamfering method using the automatic chamfering machine according to claim 1, wherein the chamfering method comprises steps of: providing the workpieces to enter the linear guide from the feed inlet of the automatic chamfering machine and performing a position alignment calibration to the workpieces by the positioning mechanism; grasping the workpieces after the position alignment calibration on the working platform by the automatic grasping mechanism; chamfering the workpieces on the working platform by the grinding stick; conveying the workpieces after chamfering to the outlet to accomplish a chamfering process to the workpieces.
 10. The chamfering method using the automatic chamfering machine according to claim 9, wherein at least one positioning plate is arranged on the working platform, grasping the workpieces after the position alignment calibration on the positioning plate of the working platform by the automatic grasping mechanism, each of the positioning plates correspondingly accommodates one of the workpieces to be entered into a chamfering process.
 11. The chamfering method using the automatic chamfering machine according to claim 9, wherein a step of chamfering the workpieces on the working platform by the grinding stick further comprises a step of rotating the working platform to chamfer the workpiece on other parts of the working platform. 